The real root cause of the issue was that a few months ago we got two complaints from a member saying that they had received some PM's inviting them to another site. Invites are not alone a bad thing (and in some cases there are some really good sites out there) but the way that they were invited seemed spam'ish so we looked into it.

At the time we visited the site there were many pages copied directly from this site (maybe purposefully without regard or maybe just copied innocently -- hard to say) that were written by the founder of the site and other people. The information was not from the CIS webpage and was a word for word (including formatting) copy. It was pretty tough on our hearts to see another site steal all the content that blood sweat and tears went into making so we emailed them and asked them to take the copyrighted content down. We never heard back nor at the time knew who ran the site.

At some point after that it became clear it might be aussie who owned the site and when I pm'd her to ask if it was her site she denied it. That was pretty odd in itself (we did not know why she would deny it unless she had something to hide) and also after that date I received a few PM's from people saying that they had been invited via a PM to join the other site (advertising like that is against the TOS to prevent spamming).

It was a tough decision but until today she had denied being a part of that site. Both for the copied content and also since she was denying being a part of the site (made us suspicious of what was going on) we made a tough call.

I am not perfect but I did try to do my best given the way things appeared on this side to us. It is even possible this was a miscommunication but my earlier PM to her to see if she ran the site was my way of trying to open a dialogue.

I would appreciate it if you would unlock her account and allow her to defend the allegations of denying the website is hers.

I have the PM's. I am at an internet cafe and need to get to a more permanent cafe (was not home and clearly the last six hours was not able to reply). If you can wait for a short while, please, I will be able to address this more. I will try my best to explain the situation from my perspective .

"Two complaints from a member" and "a few PM's from people saying that they had been invited via a PM to join the other site" and the link and the poster are banned forever? Harsh and uncalled for in my opinion.

Since when is USCIS information copyrighted? It's all over the internet.

I can't even reply to this I'm so floored by the double talk.

Ewok I've SEEN the email from the FBI admin to you asking for more information. ETA: Well I guess I could reply. Go figure.

For the record, when I was informed of the FBI site it was through e-mail (and not the e-mail I have attached to VJ) so I'm not sure-maybe people are confused as to what is a PM vs. e-mail. No matter what the situation, I'm having a hard time believing the worst about either involved party in this situation. Like Rebecca said, it would be nice to allow Aussiewench to have a say.

I think everyone needs to calm down and give Ewok the time he's asking for.

I think everyone needs to calm down and give Ewok the time he's asking for.

He had time to kill all the other posts.

Just calling it as I see it.

He had time to kill all the other posts.

Just calling it as I see it.

I respect you Captain Ewok and all your efforts in maintaining this website....if I ever when the lottery....you will be "rewarded".....this website has made my dreams become reality....and I was even able to help a friend (not a VJ member) do the same...because of the abundance of information this website has to offer.
Please show him respect (like he shows us) and understand him....you only know one side of a story....thankfully he wants to work all of this out ( I don't have a clue about what is going on) and get the matter straightened out.....Captain E...Have a blessed day and I hope all of this gets resolved in a civilized manner

You can call it as you see it all you want, but it would probably be best to discuss this rationally. Ewok obviously has his reasons, and he's earned the respect at least from me to give him the time he's asking for. No one's in a position to demand anything as it's his board. But his track record has proven to be fair.

Unless all this drama is to create more hits to the other site? I'm sure that's happening. I don't care one way or the other, but indignant outrage when the man is trying to communicate his POV calmly and rationally probably isn't going to get anyone closer to a resolution.

You can call it as you see it all you want, but it would probably be best to discuss this rationally. Ewok obviously has his reasons, and he's earned the respect at least from me to give him the time he's asking for. No one's in a position to demand anything as it's his board. But his track record has proven to be fair.

Unless all this drama is to create more hits to the other site? I'm sure that's happening. I don't care one way or the other, but indignant outrage when the man is trying to communicate his POV calmly and rationally probably isn't going to get anyone closer to a resolution.

Ok Lisa. You win. After all, you ARE the drama queen. I trust your judgment to be able to recognize good drama when you see it.

And since you are so sure this is being done to create hits for the other site, I'll also let you know what I'm sure about.

I'm sure you can't hit your ### with both hands.

although what my azz has to do with this is anyone's guess

Hello fellow VJ'ers . I just got an IM from Ewok asking him to help out here if I could. While I am not aware of all the details I was aware of some events in the past that from what I can tell led up to this conversation. In any case if I can provide some insight both on this and historically please let me know .

While I am here, hello to all my old friends that are still around here!

Hello Steve, good to see you here. When Ewok referred to an older member who would have known!

i thought it was age related, i was waiting for almaty
is this "THE STEVE" that founded vj?

Rebecca, I think you need to breathe deep and count to ten. Your position is weakened with personal attacks.

Now I've heard of 'can't find your azz with both hands and a flashlight'...but never 'hit your azz with both hands' although what my azz has to do with this is anyone's guess

Seriously, please calm down.

yep .

yep .

Hello fellow VJ'ers . I just got an IM from Ewok asking him to help out here if I could. While I am not aware of all the details I was aware of some events in the past that from what I can tell led up to this conversation. In any case if I can provide some insight both on this and historically please let me know .

While I am here, hello to all my old friends that are still around here!

Please. I don't need condescending lectures in addition to duplicity.

Welcome back.

This is the place you created. A place that has become a welcome home to dramatists and post boosters and a place where volunteer members who try to help others are banned.

Hardly what you had in mind....is it?

Count to ten, Rebecca. You're spiraling.

Good god, both of you, grow up.

work blocks chat darn